The inventive concept relates generally to semiconductor memory devices. More particularly, certain embodiments of the inventive concept relate to resistive memory devices and related methods of operation.
Semiconductor memory devices can be roughly divided into two categories according to whether they retain stored data when disconnected from power. These categories include volatile memory devices, which lose stored data when disconnected from power, and nonvolatile memory devices, which retain stored data when disconnected from power. Examples of volatile memory devices include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static random access memory (SRAM), and examples of nonvolatile memory devices include flash memory, resistive random access memory (RRAM), and ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), to name but a few.
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for nonvolatile memory devices having improved performance and storage capacity. Accordingly, in an effort to meet this demand, researchers are engaged in ongoing efforts to further develop and improve the above and other types of nonvolatile memory devices.